Method of fabricating an implantable medical device to reduce chance of late inflammatory response

摘要

The invention provides a method for fabricating an implantable medical device to increase biocompatibility of the device, the method comprising: heat setting a polymer construct, wherein the polymer construct is at a temperature range of from about Tg to about 0.6(Tm−Tg)+Tg such that the set polymer construct comprises a crystalline structure having crystals at a size less than about 2 microns; and fabricating an implantable medical device from the heat set polymer construct.

主权项

1. A method for fabricating an implantable medical device to reduce late inflammation upon bioabsorption of the device, the method comprising:
radially expanding a polymer tube at a first temperature greater than a Tg of the polymer of the polymer tube, wherein the radial expansion induces crystallization in the polymer; and heat setting the expanded polymer tube while maintaining the tube in the expanded state, wherein the polymer tube is at a second temperature in the range of from Tg to 0.6(Tm−Tg)+Tg such that the heat set polymer tube comprises a crystalline structure having crystals at a size less than 2 microns or about 2 microns; and fabricating the implantable medical device which is a stent from the heat set polymer tube, wherein the fabricating comprises forming a pattern in the heat set polymer tube by cutting which forms a scaffolding including interconnecting structural elements.